Fraternity-Testvériség, 1956 (34. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1956-09-01 / 9. szám
2 FRATERNITY MY NATIVE LAND * By Charles (Károly) Kisfaludy ** My native land, so fair <0 see, Shall I then gaze no more on thee? Where’er I stand, where’er I stray, My yearning eyes still look thy way. From migrant birds I make demand: “How fares it with my fatherland?” I ask it from the clouds on high, I ask it from the winds that sigh. But these no word of comfort bring To cheer my homesick sorrowing; My heart is weary and alone, Like wither’d grass upon a stone. 0 little land where I was born, 1 drift afar, forgot, forlorn — Like leaves the winds of autumn sweep In wailing eddies to the deep. Translated by W. Kirkconnell Remarks * This poem was taken from the recently published anthology written by Egon Kunz under the title “Hungarian Poetry.” This valuable book may be ordered from Julia Kemeny, 1736 East 22nd St., Cleveland 14, O. ** Charles Kisfaludy (1788-1839) was born at Sümeg, in the county of Zala. He started on a military career, but soon left the army and lived a precarious existence mainly in Milan and Vienna as a painter. He achieved his first success with a drama, “The Tartars in Hungary” (1819). In 1822 he started the “Aurora” and became the leading spirit of the romantic movement. He worked feverishly publishing dramas, stories and poetry, making his name widely known. His death on November 21, 1839, shook the whole country, and the mourning fellow- writers founded the Kisfaludy Society.
